Vending-machine.



F. J. MoGE-TTRICK & H. J. KENNEDY. VENDING. MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAB.17, 1914.

1 .1 1M" Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

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F. J. MGGETTRICK.& H. J. KENNEDY.

VENDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 11 1914 1,1285]. fi%, Patented Feb. 9,- 1915.

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WTF FTAFF FATE FRANK J'. MGGETTRICK AND HAROLD J. KENNEDY, OF ST. ALBANS, VERMONT.

VE1\TDIN G-MACHINE.

Application filed March 17, 191 1.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK J. MoGn'r- TRICK and HAROLD J. KENNEDY, citizens of the United States, residing at St. Albans, in the county of Franklin and State of Vermont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vending-Machines; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention comprehends improvements in vending machines, and has particular reference to a machine especially adapted for dispensing cigarettes one at a time as the result of dropping a coin into the device.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a cigarette vending machine of extremely simple and practical construction, which is provided with a magazine for holding a plurality of cigarettes and feed mechanism operated by coins to place a cigarette in position so that the next coin which is deposited will cause a cigarette to be discharged and then actuate the feed mechanism.

Another and more specific object of the invention is to provide a cigarette vending machine from which cigarettes are individually dispensed by the impact of a coin and feed mechanism to bring the cigarettes successively into proper position, also actuated by the coin.

With these and other objects in view as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of our invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional View through our improved vending machine. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse Sec tion taken on the plane of line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view on the plane of line 3-3 of Fig.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.,

Serial No. 825,334.

1. Fig. 4C is a fragmentary detail view partly in section, illustrating the coin actuated feed mechanism, and Fig. 5 is a section taken on the plane of'line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Referring in detail to the drawings by numerals, 1 designates, as an entirety, the main casing of the vending machine, said casing being very narrow and substantially rectangular in shape. It is formed by a pair of side walls 2 and 3, front and rear walls 4 and 5, a bottom 6 and top 7. Within this casing is formed a container or maga zine 8 to hold the cigarettes that are to be dispensed. This compartment appears rectangular cross section and is formed by side walls 9 and end walls 10, 11. The magazine is positioned centrally between the casing walls 2 and 3, is open at its upper end, and is so designed as to hold a plurality of cigarettes in superposed relation, as is clearly evident by the illustration.

The cigarettes are fed upwardly by a follower or block 12 which presses against the lowermost cigarette within the magazine and which is provided with a depending ratchet bar 13 opposed to the end wall 11 of the compartment 8. A pawl 14: working through a slot 15 in the end wall 11, engages the teeth of the ratchet bar 13 to hold the latter against downward or retrograde movement and is held positively in this posi tion by a spring 16.

To force the block or follower 12 upwardly, I provide a coin actuated lever 17, shown in detail in Fig. l, and mounted on a horizontal central pivot 18. The rear end of this lever is formed with a longitudinal bore 19 which houses an expansive spring 20 bearing against a pawl 21 which engages the teeth of the ratchet bar 13. Since the teeth of the bar 13 face downwardly, it is obvious that a downward swing of the outer end of the lever 17 will cause the bar 13 to be raised through the instrumentality of the pawl 21, and that when this pressure is released to allow the spring 22 to return the lever to its normal horizontal position against the stop 23, that the pawl 21 will ride over the teeth of the bar 13 into position for the next operation.

A coin slot 24 is formed transversely of the top 7 of the main casing, and a vertical guideway for the coin consisting of parallel plates 25 and 26 extend downwardly from the underside of the wall 7. This guideway extends parallel to the end wall 11 of the magazine in spaced relation thereto and terminates directly over the outer end of the lever 17 so that when a coin drops from this guideway, it will strike the lever to operate it. p

The parallel plates forming the guideway extend transversely of the casin 1 and are formed with longitudinal slots 2 and 28 in their upper portions, and the cigarettes are caused to pass through these slots, as will be hereinafter explained.

The cigarettes are projected into the path of coins passing through the guideway by a plurality of spring pressed plunger rods 29 which are carried in horizontal sockets 30 formed in a rectangular block 31. This block is supported on a brace or arm 32 which is connected by braces or arms 33 to the follower 12, as best shown in Fig. 1. The arm 32 extends rearwardly and upwardly from the ratchet bar 13 through a longitudinal slot 34 formed in the rear wall 10 of the magazine 8, and supports the block 32 parallel to this rear wall.

To close the entrance slot 24 when the magazine is empty, we provide a sliding plate 35 supported by the wall 7, so as to move longitudinally thereof under the slot 24. This plate is actuated by a lever 36 pivoted intermediate its ends and formed in its rear portion with a longitudinal slot 37 through which a pin 38 carried by the plate 35 extends. It will be seen that when the forward end of the lever 36 is swung downwardly, the plate 35 will be moved forwardly to close the slot 24, and to so swing the lever we provide an arm 38 pivotally mounted intermediate its ends and having its forward terminals curved upwardly and rearwardly, as indicated by the numeral 39, into engagement with the upper side of the lever 36. The rear end of the arm 38 projects into thepath of the block 31 and when struck by the block will be actuated to move the plate 35 longitudinally, as will be clearly understood.

The cigarettes passing from the casing 5, slide downwardly through the chute 40 which opens outwardly through the front wall 5. The bottom 41 of the chute inclines downwardly from the lower terminal of the slot 28, and the inner end of the chute expands into a somewhat semi-cylindrical chamber 42 having a curved top wall 43 and side walls 44. 7

Having described the construction of our improved cigarette vending machine, we will now explain the operation thereof. Supposing the parts of the machine to be arranged as indicated in Fig. 1, a cent or other suitable coin, when dropped through the entrance slot 24 will pass downwardly through the coin guide and strike the tip of the uppermost cigarette, causing the latter to slide upwardly and describe an arc of one hundred and eighty degrees substantially and pass out the chute 40. The cigarette is fulcrumed on the upper edge of the wall 11 of the magazine, so when struck by a coin will describe the are previously mentioned. The side walls 44 of the compartment 42 guide the cigarettes, and the slots 27 and 28 are wide enough to allow the same an uninterrupted flight. As the coin passes from the guideway it strikes the lever 17 on its outer end and swings it downwardly, causing the pawl 21 to lift the follower 12 to bring the next cigarette on a level with the upper edges of the end walls of the magazine. The movement of the follower which positions the next cigarette also lifts the block 31 so that the corresponding plunger 29 will be carried above the upper terminal of the wall 10 and fly outwardly against the cigarette to project its tip into the coin guide through the slot 27 in position for the next coin.

While we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of our invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described our invention, we claim 1. In a vending machine, a magazine open at its upper end, a follower positioned within the magazine to lift its contents, a coin guide paralleling one end of the magazine and formed with longitudinal slots above the magazine, a coin actuated lever projecting under the discharge end of the coin guide to raise the follower, means for forcing the uppermost article within the magazine across the upper edge of the wall adjacent the coin guide, and means for conveying an article from the machine when struck by a coin.

2. In a vending machine of the character described, a casing, a magazine arranged within said casing and open at its upper end, a follower arranged within the magazine to lift its contents, a vertical coin guide extending parallel to one end wall of the magazine and projecting above the same, said guide being formed with slots adjacent its upper end, a ratchet bar depending from said follower, coin actuated means for working the ratchet bar upwardly, and projecting mechanism to force the uppermost acticle within the magazine across the end wall adjacent the coin guide and into the path of a coin.

3. In a vending machine, an upwardly opening magazine, follower arranged within said magazine to lift its contents, coin In testimony whereof We aflix our signaactuated mechanism for raising the foltures in presence of two Witnesses. lower, a block movable with the follower,

and a plurality of spring pressed plungers 5 carried by said block to force the articles longitudinally as they are projected above Witnesses:

the end Walls of the magazine by said fol- O. L. MULLEN,

lower. C. W. SHEEHAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

